A convicted felon, Jeremy Christian, 35, accused of fatally stabbings two Good Samaritans who tried to stop Christian from harassing a pair of women who appeared to be Muslim, appears in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, Oregon, U.S., May 30, 2017. REUTERS/Beth Nakamura/Pool

The suspect in a fatal stabbing spree on a Portland, Oregon, commuter train yelled remarks about “free speech” as he entered the courtroom where he was being arraigned on Tuesday on charges of attacking bystanders who intervened when he shouted religious slurs at two women of Muslim appearance.

Suspect Jeremy Joseph Christian, a 35-year-old convicted felon, entered the courtroom yelling “Free speech or die, Portland. You got no safe place. This is America – get out if you don’t like free speech.”

Christian was arraigned in Multnomah County Circuit Court on three felony murder charges, one felony assault charge, three felony weapons charges and two misdemeanor counts of intimidation.

He is charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of two men who intervened when he shouted religious slurs at two women who were the subject of the religious slurs on Friday. A third man who tried to step in was also stabbed but survived.

About a dozen protesters in the hall outside the courtroom erupted into shouting while the charges were read.

As he was escorted out of the courtroom after the arraignment, Christian shouted, “Death to the enemies of America. Leave this country if you hate our freedoms. … You call it terrorism. I call it patriotism.”

The surviving victim of the attack, Micah Fletcher, sat in the front row of the gallery during the arraignment, with a long, sutured wound visible on his neck.

If found guilty of the murder charges, Christian could face either life imprisonment or the death penalty.

Friday’s stabbing attack came as some religious rights groups warn of a rising tide of anti-Islamic sentiment in the United States, blaming President Donald Trump for divisive anti-Muslim rhetoric.

One of the two women who was the target of the religious slurs on Friday, Destinee Mangum, who was with a friend wearing a Muslim head scarf, said in a video posted on CNN’s website on Monday that she did not know the men who intervened and thanked them for putting their lives on the line.

Trump condemned the stabbings on Monday, calling them “unacceptable.” “The victims were standing up to hate and intolerance. Our prayers are w/ them,” he said on Twitter.

Trump’s remarks came after the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on him to condemn the rampage and speak out against what the advocacy group sees as an increase in anti-Islamic sentiment. Anti-Muslim incidents increased more than 50 percent in the United States last year, it said.

Asha Deliverance, the mother of Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, one of the two men who was killed on Friday, in an open letter to Trump that was posted on social media on Tuesday, urged the president to condemn “acts of violence, which result directly from hate speech.”

According to The Oregonian, a witness to the stabbings said Namkai-Meche’s last words before being taken away by paramedics were, “Tell everyone on this train I love them.”

On Monday, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler called on federal authorities to rescind a permit for a June 4 “Trump Free Speech Rally” and not to issue a permit for a June 10 “March Against Sharia.” In a Facebook post, he said, “Our community’s anger is real, and the timing and subject of these events can only exacerbate an already difficult situation.”

The Oregon chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union replied with a statement on Twitter warning against censoring “unpopular speech.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the attack to determine whether to charge Christian with terrorism or a federal hate crime, Portland FBI spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele said.

French President Emmanuel Macron (R) speaks to Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) in the Galerie des Batailles (Gallery of Battles) as they arrive for a joint press conference at the Chateau de Versailles before the opening of an exhibition marking 300 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries in Versailles, France, May 29, 2017. REUTERS/Stephane De Sakutin/Pool

Homicide just means that Hernandez-Rossy died at the hands of another person.

“It does not trump the penal law,” Burton said. “It does not equal criminality.”

The officer who shot Hernandez-Rossy was placed on administrative leave, a standard procedure after an officer fires a weapon.

An officer involved in the altercation thought he was shot in the ear, but it is not clear whether or not Hernandez-Rossy was armed.

The homicide case has been turned over to the State Attorney Generals office and is currently under investigation.

Buffalo Officials no longer sure man killed by police had shot cop

There are “significant questions” over whether a man pulled over for a traffic stop shot a policeman before being killed by the officer’s partner, a prosecutor said Wednesday as state authorities took over the investigation into the deadly encounter.

Buffalo Officer Joseph Acquino told investigators that he thought his ear was hit by a bullet during a struggle with Jose Hernandez-Rossy, Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said. Acquino’s partner then shot Hernandez-Rossy. The bleeding 26-year-old father of three ran away but was found a short distance away and later died at hospital.

Police searched the residential neighborhood where the encounter unfolded, but they haven’t found any weapon, raising the possibility that Hernandez-Rossy was unarmed. And authorities now aren’t sure Acquino was shot at all.

Police officials have said the officers pulled over Hernandez-Rossy’s vehicle Sunday for a traffic violation and that a struggle ensued when he became combative. Buffalo police have said Hernandez-Rossy fired once, and the bullet nearly tore off Acquino’s ear. Surgeons reattached it Sunday night.

It’s unclear how Acquino’s ear was torn off. Tom Burton, an attorney for Buffalo’s police union, told WBKW-TV that Acquino was not hit by friendly fire or struck by a bullet from his own weapon. He said no one is sure what caused the ear injury.

Local media reported that during the traffic stop Acquino leaned through the driver’s-side window as Hernandez-Rossy attempted to drive away. The officer hung on as the car jumped a sidewalk, went through a hedge and hit the side of the house, the reports said. Messages left with the police department in an attempt to confirm those details weren’t returned Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the office of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced it had taken over the investigation. A 2015 state law allows the attorney general to act as a special prosecutor when unarmed civilians are killed by police or if there are questions about whether a civilian was armed.

Retail staff hug each other after being evacuated from the Arndale Centre shopping mall in Manchester, northwest England on May 23, 2017 following a security alert the day after a deadly terror attack at the Manchester Arena.
Twenty two people have been killed and dozens injured in Britain's deadliest terror attack in over a decade after a suspected suicide bomber targeted fans leaving a concert of US singer Ariana Grande in Manchester. / AFP PHOTO / Ben STANSALL (Photo credit should read BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images)

As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump railed against President Barack Obama for failing to utter the words “radical Islamic terrorism.” He accused the foundation run by Bill and Hillary Clinton of corruption for accepting charitable contributions from Saudi Arabia and chastised first lady Michelle Obama for not covering her head during a visit to the Kingdom.

Now that he’s president, Trump has changed his tune.

The president now finds himself adjusting to the nuances of Middle East diplomacy, where inflammatory campaign slogans — no matter how popular among some voters — can be the cause of major disruptions now that he holds office.

Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, at the start of his first trip abroad as president, has produced a number of statements that run counter to the harsh, anti-Muslim rhetoric from his 2016 campaign. While many presidents adjust their commentary once they depart the campaign trail and travel abroad, Trump’s speech to Gulf Arab leaders featured a much softer tone than his large-scale rallies last year.

Here are the most glaring contradictions:

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“RADICAL ISLAMIC TERRORISM”:

THEN: Trump routinely railed against Obama and Democratic campaign rival Hillary Clinton for failing to use the specific phrase, “radical Islamic terrorism.” In an August 2016 speech, for example, Trump said Obama’s 2009 speech to the Muslim World in Egypt lacked “moral courage” and was replete in naivet?. “Anyone who cannot name our enemy is not fit to lead this country. Anyone who cannot condemn the hatred, oppression and violence of radical Islam lacks the moral clarity to serve as our president,” he said. Obama had declined to use the term because he said he didn’t want to connect terrorist groups like the Islamic State to the religion of Islam and said it would unnecessarily anger Arab allies fighting terrorism and alienate Muslims at home.

NOW: Trump called on Muslim leaders to address “the crisis of Islamic extremists” and referenced “the Islamists and Islamic terror of all kinds.” But he failed to the use the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” in his major speech on Sunday in front of more than 50 leaders of Arab and Muslim-majority countries. Trump spoke about the devastation that violent extremists have unleashed across the Middle East, but made clear that he believes it’s up to leaders of those countries to act to contain the problem.

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ISLAM:

THEN: Trump declared in a March 2016 interview with CNN that, “I think Islam hates us” adding that, “there’s a tremendous hatred there.” It was just one of a series of inflammatory statements about one of the world’s major religions that included a call to surveille mosques and a proposal to ban all foreign Muslims from entering the U.S. “until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”

“Frankly, look, we’re having problems with the Muslims, and we’re having problems with Muslims coming into the country,” he told Fox Business Network last March following a series of attacks in Brussels.

“You need surveillance, you have to deal with the mosques whether we like it or not,” he added. “These attacks, they’re not done by Swedish people, that I can tell you.”

NOW: Trump struck a far less caustic tone in Sunday’s speech, expressing that “young Muslim boys and girls should be able to grow up free from fear, safe from violence, and innocent of hatred. And young Muslim men and women should have the chance to build a new era of prosperity for themselves and their peoples.”

He said, the biggest victims of terrorism are the “innocent people of Arab, Muslim and Middle Eastern nations. They have borne the brunt of the killings and the worst of the destruction in this wave of fanatical violence. Some estimates hold that more than 95 percent of the victims of terrorism are themselves Muslim.”

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CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS

THEN: During his 2016 campaign, Trump frequently assailed rival Hillary Clinton’s ties to the Clinton Foundation, which received millions in donations from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and several other Mideast nations. In a June 2016 posting on Facebook, Trump said, “Saudi Arabia and many of the countries that gave vast amounts of money to the Clinton Foundation want women as slaves and to kill gays. Hillary must return all money from such countries!” During an October general election debate in Las Vegas, Trump went further: “It’s a criminal enterprise,” he said of the Clinton’s charitable foundation. “Saudi Arabia giving $25 million, Qatar, all of these countries. You talk about women and women’s rights? So these are people that push gays off business — off buildings. These are people that kill women and treat women horribly. And yet you take their money….” ”on’t you give back the money you’ve taken from certain countries that treat certain groups of people so terrible?”

NOW: The World Bank announced Sunday at an event with Trump’s daughter and White House adviser, Ivanka Trump, that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had pledged $100 million for the bank’s proposed Women Entrepreneurs Fund, which was first proposed by Ivanka Trump.

——

SAUDI ARABIA:

THEN: Trump had plenty of harsh words for Saudi Arabia before his election. He accusing the kingdom of wanting “women as slaves and to kill gays” in a Facebook post and suggested they were being behind the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

“Who blew up the World Trade Center?” he asked during one Fox News appearance. “It wasn’t the Iraqis, it was Saudi — take at look at Saudi Arabia, open the documents,” he demanded. “If you open the documents, I think you’re going to see that it was Saudi Arabia, it wasn’t Iraq.”

NOW: Trump heaped praised on the Saudis Sunday, describing the country as a “magnificent kingdom.”

“I am honored to be received by such gracious hosts,” he said in his opening. “I have always heard about the splendor of your country and the kindness of your people, but words do not do justice to the grandeur of this sacred place.”

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HEADSCARF:

THEN: Trump lashed out at Michelle Obama on Twitter in 2015 when she opted against wearing a headscarf on her visit to Saudi Arabia.

“Many people are saying it was wonderful that Mrs. Obama refused to wear a scarf in Saudi Arabia, but they were insulted. We have enuf enemies,” Trump tweeted at the time, including a short-hand spelling for “enough.”

NOW:

First lady Melania Trump and the president’s eldest daughter Ivanka showed off their locks, following in the footsteps, not only of Michelle Obama, but of female leaders like German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Melania even opted to show a little leg on day two of their trip, wearing a dress that ended just below the knees.”

THE GOODNESS CONTINUES!

EXTRA FREE CLASS:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~RECITAL

Friday, August 4th. 6-7PM. Costumes provided. (Main floor)

REGISTRATION:

Please fill out our registration form. –> Diversity Dance Classes for kids
upload a file/PDF telling us why this summer program will be beneficial for your awesome child and why is so important for you to celebrate diversity and why our program is important in our community.

(*A must * Please answer all questions)
We will accept 25 registrations per class.
We will need at least 10 registrations per class to provide this free classes.

Once your registration is confirmed.
Please make sure your child comes to class.
Wear confortable shoes and clothing to dance.
Bring water to keep hydrated

Cultural Celebration – Participants will learn about different cultures, history of dance and music styles.

SELF-ESTEEM: We will talk about the importance of tolerance and acceptance of cultural differences, about having love for our heritages, so in that way, to increase tolerance and the self-esteem of the participant (the more we know, the more we love who we are) We will use positive lyrics, and multicultural high energy music.

Panorama Hispano is the regional news and information newspaper for Hispanic and other diverse communities.

US Hispanics are now the largest ethnic minority in the United States numbering 54.2 million as of July 2014. Serving: Buffalo, Rochester, Fredonia, Niagara Falls, NY and Erie, PA. Outside our Market area: Visit our affiliate at: http://www.impremedia.com/